Listening from Within

My husband and I are visiting Bowling Green, Ohio, where we lived for over 30 years before moving away. Waldemar had expressed the desire to visit Amish country and buy some garlic knocks to take home with us. He wanted to go home via our son’s house and have him make a bonfire to roast the knocks as we had so often done when he was a child and we were camping. We had decided some days ago that we would go yesterday. But night before last we looked at weather.com and saw that the high temperature for the day was to be 56 degrees and that it was to be mostly cloudy and 17mph winds. Since our reason for choosing this time of year for our visit was to see the autumn colors, it didn’t seem like a very good choice to go yesterday. We saw that Monday was supposed to be sunny and 64 degrees; so we went to bed believing that we would go Monday.

I paid no heed whatsoever to the words of Joel Goldsmith that I had read and taken notes on a couple of days before about how we insist on knowing in advance what we are going to do and are unwilling to wait on the Lord, on His wisdom, guidance and direction; we depend upon our own evaluation of the particular situation.

But yesterday morning upon awakening before sunrise I heard the still small voice inside saying, I am not subject to the weather; the weather is subject to me. I recalled the Scriptures:

Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Psalms 8:4-6 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

So I got my husband out of bed and we got ourselves ready to go. I really didn’t care what the weather was going to be like. I would have left had it been raining because I was certain that I had heard the voice inside. What I want to emphasize is that my obeying that voice was not dependent upon outside circumstances.

John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

We were on the road by 8:30. The sun was shining; the trees were gorgeous; it was a perfect crisp autumn day. On our return trip, we had a few sprinkles, and at one point half the sky became ominously black while the other half was blue with the sun shining. The trees were even more spectacular with the sun shining on them against the black backdrop. We were home by 5:00, tired but very satisfied with our day together.

This morning before getting out of bed I was thinking of this experience, about how normal and natural it was, with no religious gymnastics. I understood that my brain is not for the purpose of figuring things out (because all things are already figured out) or for making anything happen (because everything has already happened). My brain is merely what some writers have termed a tool of awareness of that which already is. When I hear (from the inside or the outside) or read something that rings true (or, in spiritual language, bears witness with my spirit), I spend time in quiet contemplation of that truth.

And that is a discipline where I do use my brain. I do this not just once, but countless times—whenever an occasion arises that confronts me with this truth. In this case it is the truth concerning the dominion given by God to man. In these contemplations I have realized that the dominion has been given to my true identity (the Christ) and not to my humanity. It wasn’t given to the humanity of Jesus either.

John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing.

Just knowing this truth with my brain does not activate it in my experience. But continued contemplation of any truth leads me to that place of what some people term meditation, a place where all the outside voices contrary to the truth are silenced and the still small voice of recognition or realization of that truth can be heard, where that truth becomes mine to be experienced on this earthly plane of existence—but Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts Zechariah 4:6.

Not by visualization, affirmation, fasting or any other religious activity does truth become operative—because it is already operative when I recognize it.

I am again reminded of the simplicity that is in Christ 2Corinthians 11:3. We make this spiritual journey so much more difficult than it need be by doing everything else except the one thing that is required—listening and being obedient to what we hear. We are like Martha cumbered about much serving (attempting to serve God and man) rather than like Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus and hearing His word Luke 10:39ff. Jesus’ response:

Luke 10:41-42 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

When we do that which our brain tells us is reasonable, logical, the right thing to do, our duty to do, the loving thing to do, what my family or friends think I should do, etc., we experience chaos, anxiety, fear, and any other number of negatives. But when we just listen and respond to that which we hear from within (and we have to get quiet enough to hear), we experience the abundant life that Jesus said He came to give us John 10:10, a life lived from within (in the kingdom of heaven), a life characterized by righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost Romans 14:17.

This is not to say that we will never experience anything that could be termed evil by those around us and who may even fall as a result; but as we dwell in the secret place of the most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty, Psalms 91:1, like Daniel in the lion’s den and the Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, that so-called evil will not come near us Psalms 91:8 and we remain unafraid Psalms 91:5.

Yesterday I experienced the truth of Joel Goldsmith’s statement:

We have prevented the activity and operation of God in our affairs by not waiting, by not being a beholder, by not sitting, as it were, a little to one side of ourselves until we feel that the Father is taking over. If only we could do that, we would find the miracle of a divine Presence going before us to make all things new. When we make a decision, very often we find insurmountable obstacles in the way; but when God makes the decision, God goes before us and removes every obstacle. Everything necessary to facilitate the undertaking is provided.

No, as yet I don’t live there all the time, but I have experienced enough to know that I can.

And, like Paul,

Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.